Allergy Free Gnocchi

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I’ve been getting requests for Allergy-Free Gnocchi for years.It’s about time I delivered, don’t you think?

And what a pleasure it was. I had a blast creating this recipe for gluten-free, vegan gnocchi, and was paid off for my efforts when my son Monte remarked, “These taste exactly like regular gnocchi, except better!”

I’d never made homemade gnocchi before, so my first question was “What type of potatoes?” I tried my first batch with Russets, which was fine, but just a tad too soft. I then turned to my Italian Cuisine guru, Marcella Hazan,and discovered that she only recommends boiling potatoes. NOT baking potatoes, NOT new potatoes “waxy OLD potatoes.” Hm. I did a little culinary translation, and decided that meant gold potatoes, like Yukon Gold. They worked very well, and have the added benefit of lending a golden hue to the gnocchi, which is nice given this is also an egg-free recipe.

This recipe is not hard. It just takes a little time. It’s like playing with play dough. But better.

I have given proportions for 4 servings. You may halve the recipe if you like. Also note that these kept very nicely after cooking, drizzled with a little olive oil and tightly covered in the fridge, so feel free to make a day, or several hours in advance and reheat lightly in the microwave before serving.

Allergy-Free Gnocchi

Makes 4 Servings

1. Boil the potatoes, skin-on until very tender when pricked with a fork. The time on this will vary depending on the size of the potato.

2. When tender, drain, and remove from pot. Let cool just enough to handle, and then remove skin, by peeling off with your fingers. It should slip off.

3. Put potatoes in a mixing bowl and combine with rice milk, olive oil, and salt, beating with an electric mixer till light, smooth, and fluffy. (traditional recipes call for using a potato ricer, but I don’t have one, and it seemed to make no difference).

4. Whisk together flour mix and xanthan gum.

5. Turn whipped/mashed potatoes out onto a work surface. You want them still warm. If they aren’t warm anymore, give them a minute in the microwave.

6. Sprinkle mashed potatoes with half the flour mixture, and use your hands to knead it in.

7. Add remaining flour and kneed dough until smooth, but still slightly sticky. Mold into a ball.

8. Divide into three balls. Roll each ball out into a sausage-shaped log, about 1-inch in diameter.

9. Cut logs into 1/2-inch thick rounds.

10. Put a large pot of water on to boil.

11. Using a fork, with the convex side facing you, press gnocchi into the base of the fork, using your thumb to make an imprint (see pics).

12. Then use your index finger to flip the gnocchi towards the handle of the fork, letting gnocchi fall onto your work surface.

13. Repeat with remaining gnocchi. Making them in this fashion allows the sauce to cling to them better. I found I had to switch forks a few times, because the fork tines get sticky after awhile, and a clean surface works best.

14. Once you’ve made all your gnocchi, add a large pinch of salt to the boiling water. You will cook the gnocchi in several batches. Add first batch to water, being careful not to overcrowd pot, and cook until they bob to the surface. Once they’ve bobbed, cook 10 seconds longer, then remove from water with a slotted spoon, to a bowl drizzled with a little olive oil. Do not over cook them! Repeat with remaining gnocchi. Serve hot with favorite sauce, or with just a little olive oil, and truffle salt.

Allergy-Free Gnocchi © 2011 by Cybele Pascal

(Please note that all my recipes are completely free of all top allergens (wheat, dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, fish, shellfish, and gluten), so as many people as possible can enjoy them. Additionally, all the ingredients are available at Whole Foods, and online at Amazon.com. If you have trouble finding something, let me know and Illl help you find it.)

SAFETY NOTE: Because each person’s food sensitivity and reaction is unique, ranging from mild intolerance to life-threatening and severe food allergies, it is up to the consumer to monitor ingredients and manufacturing conditions. If manufacturing conditions, potential cross contact between foods, and ingredient derivatives pose a risk for you, please re-read all food labels and call the manufacturer to confirm potential allergen concerns before consumption. Ingredients and manufacturing practices can change overnight and

41 Responses

  1. kim says:

    i love it when pictures accompany the recipe! i have always wanted to try gnocchi, and now that i’ve found one safe for my daughter’s food allergies–with pictures to boot!–i can’t wait to make it! thank you!! 🙂

  2. Cybele says:

    Hi Kim:

    I hope your daughter likes them! I know both my boys do, so I can vouch for it being kid-friendly, as well as allergy-friendly.

    all best,

    Cybele

  3. Mag says:

    when using regular flour, do you avoid xanthan gum?
    We’re milk/soy/egg/nut free so we can use wheat but i’m always curious if i’m suppose to omit xanthan gum if using regular flour.

    Thank you for your recipes!!!!

  4. Hi Mag:

    Yes, just omit the xanthan gum.

    Thanks!

    Cybele

  5. Holly says:

    I’ve never had gnocchi, but these look so good! It would be a nice change from pasta. Could these be frozen?

  6. Hi Holly:

    Not sure! Sorry, they never last that long in my house. THey do well in the fridge though. I think the answer is probably yes, you can freeze them.

    best,

    Cybele

  7. Homa says:

    Just bought yukon potatoes today so I can try these! I’m thinking of adapting your mac and cheese sauce into a simple sauce for these since my son can’t have tomatoes.

  8. Yadira says:

    Made this last night for dinner! Loved it and so did my little 3 year old! Can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch! 🙂
    Quick question on your brownie recipe from your book (I am baking my way through it can you tell 😉 It is awesome btw). I couldn’t find the unsweetened chocolate for the 6 ounces to melt into the shortening…. so, should I use 6 ounces of enjoy life chocolate chips and drop the sugar a bit or should I use unsweetened cocoa powder? Unsure what to try. Thanks so much!

    • cybele says:

      Hi Yadira, i thought I answered this months ago, and am horrified to see I didn’t. I don’t think that would work so well for the brownies. See if you can find the SCHARFFEN BERGER baking bars.

      all best,

      Cybele

  9. Allison says:

    So I made these for dinner last night along with lamb stew (local organic lamb with all market bought veggies!!), absolutely phenomenal!!! Sooooo good! They go perfectly in stew. Also, I kept popping them as I was waiting for my stew to finish cooking. Sososo good. Thank you for coming up with the recipe!

  10. Ann says:

    Just made these and they are SO good!!! Thank you so much for the recipe! Quick question, do you think this recipe could be doubled or best to do it in two separate batches?

    Thanks! Ann

  11. Merie says:

    We cannot do brown rice. What can I sub for that in your basic gluten free flour mixture? We can do white rice, but I am not sure if I can sub it out and use the same amount. I can’t wait to try this recipe! Looks delicious!

  12. Jennifer Hicks says:

    Can oat flour be used instead? Thanks!!

  13. Lily says:

    Hi,

    For some reason, I cannot seem to figure out how much rice milk and how much salt and exactly how many potatoes to use. There is a question mark in place of the numbers. I’m anxious to try this recipe out!

    And in place of the rice milk, could i use almond milk? I have it at home, and just wanted to know if it could be done!

    Thank you!
    Lily

  14. Lily says:

    Hello,

    I cannot seem to read the numbers in front of the potatoes, rice milk and salt in the ingredients section.

    I am excited about making this recipe.

    And I was wondering about substituting almond milk for the rice milk? We use mostly almond milk at the house.

    Thank you!
    Lily

  15. cybele says:

    Hi Lily, i fixed it for you. Sorry, still leftover mess from when i was hacked!

    best,

    Cybele

  16. Michele says:

    I have been making gnocchi for years — my family’s favorite treat. The great thing is that there is no “right” recipe and tons of variations. The key to light potato gnocchi rather than leaden potato bombs is a dry potato and little gluten (convenient!). Use up those old potatoes you forgot to bake (plain old, cheap bakers are what you find in Italy, not your lovely Yukons!) — a little shrivel is great. But to really dry them, this is the one time where microwaving your potatoes is a good idea. If you do boil, when they are cooked through, drain them then return them to the dry pot for a few minutes to dry out. Or bake them in the oven. Then, use a ricer while they are still warm — never a processor (you will get potato glue), and a masher doesn’t get the air. Make a well with the potatoes (like you do for pasta) and toss the gf flour & salt through (the xanthum is not really necessary — remember, you are avoiding gluten). In the center pour your liquids — an egg is not necessary anyway (use what you have for gnocchi) — I would just add water myself (or experiment with veg juice, i.e. sub carrot juice and add some mashed carrots). Lightly knead, LIGHTLY — then roll into your snakes. You can add spinach, sweet potato, winter squash — just squeeze it out well, subbing any of the juice as I mentioned. And gnocchi freezes beautifully — go ahead and boil it, then shock it in ice water, drain, toss in a little olive oil so it won’t stick together, lay out on cookie sheet, cover with plastic, freeze, then pack up in zip locks. Lay out to defrost at room temp, then just toss in sauce!

  17. Carmelina Di Criscio says:

    Hi Cybele, made your gnocchi for a first course canadian thanksgiving and they were the best thing I have ever made. My grandson has multiple alergies and I like trying new things for us to eat. Would you have a recipe for a good baguette I would appreciate it.

    Thanks
    Carmelina

  18. Maggie says:

    this looks great! Is there any way to make this without oil? I need a fat free version – could substituting pumpkin puree work? Might give them a nice fun flavor too

    Thanks!

  19. Maggie says:

    This looks great! But I need a recipe that doesn’t have oil. Is there anything that this can be substituted for? I need it to be low fat or hopefully fat free. I was thinking maybe pumpkin puree? And that might give them a nice flavor too… what do you think?

    Thanks!
    Maggie

  20. Shanna says:

    Thank you for all of the wonderful recipes! Your website and books have been life savers for us. I have tried a number of recipes by different authors and many have also been delicious. I come back to yours again and again because I always have great success. Yours are always the first books/recipes I refer folks to when they have questions about how we do it.

    Your recipes have been key in putting thirty pounds and 4 inches on my underweight son and knocking his severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis into remission. We all enjoy eating allergen-free baked goods now, even though 4 of us have no issues. I have to say that the red velvet cake is hands down the best I’ve ever had, allergen-free or not.

    So, thank you very much.

    Happy New Year!

    • cybele says:

      Dear Shanna:

      Thank you so much for your comment! It makes every frustration worthwhile to know that kids are eating well because of my trials in the kitchen.

      Happy and Healthy New Year to you and yours!

      all best,

      Cybele

  21. Lekica says:

    Loved it, thank you! I googled “gluten free gnocchi recipe” and got the weirdest possible options…but this one is simple and straight forward. We also have both a gluten and casein intolerance so coming across an allergy free recipe was like a present from heaven. I shall be checking your other recipes with much delight. Wishing you much health and success! Greetings from Bosnia

  22. Christine says:

    Could you use this for a pizza crust?

  23. Kim says:

    I would really love to try this as my 3 year old has EOE and misses pasta so much! We could do rice, so rice pasta was a treat. Recently she started reacting to it though so we had to remove it from her diet. She can do potatoes, but can only do coconut milk. As for safe flours, she can do potato, coconut, sorghum, and cassava. Tapioca is questionable. Any thoughts in how we could make this work? Thank you so much!

  24. […] who won’t touch sweet potato with a 10-foot barge-pole, I had to use this allergy-friendly recipe, whilst I needed the expertise of this sweet potato alternative for M.  I decided it would be […]

  25. Chansa says:

    I made this gnocchi and we loved it!!! Thank you. My two boys and I have a host of allergies between us and my poor husband has to live with it. He has no allergies!!! (He must be an alien!)

    I used left over mash and I was worried it wouldn’t work but it was fine. The dough was really easy to work with. Thinking I’ll try to use this for PIZZA!?!

    I could taste the xanthum gum but nobody else seemed to notice. Could I use egg replacer?

    Thank you again!

    • cybele says:

      Hi Chansa:

      I have never tasted the xanthan gum in this myself. You must have a very acute sense of taste! You are lucky! I don’t know about the egg replacer…. You could also try swapping out guar gum if you prefer that?

      Let us know if you try this as a pizza crust and send pics!

      all best,

      Cybele

  26. Anri says:

    I tried my first batch today, but did the potatoes yesterday, got too busy and had to leave them in the fridge overnight. I thought I’d experiment anyway to say how it would turn out. It was very sticky, and i had to add quite a bit of extra flour to be able to roll it. Now boiling a couple. I think the consistency will be too chewy.

    I wonder, have you got any tips for optimizing the recipe with potatoes that have been left overnight?

    Thanks so much,
    really looking forward to getting it right. We love gnocchi

    • cybele says:

      Hi Anri. My advice would be that if you want to make the potatoes in advance that you mash them right away, add some olive oil and or buttery spread, and a little rice milk, and then keep them tightly covered overnight. But better yet, make them just before making your gnocchi.

      all best,

      Cybele

  27. Cathy says:

    Hi Cybele,
    I would like to make this for my son who has an allergy to gluten, egg and dairy (just to name a few). Just to confirm, and I did see your notes for flour, can I use GF flour instead of cashew flour and cornstarch instead of arrowroot powder? and still omit the xantham gum?
    THANK YOU!
    Cathy

    • cybele says:

      Hi Cathy: I’m totally confused! Where do I talk about cashew flour or arrowroot? I must be forgetting something. Please let me know where you saw this….

      best,
      CYbele

  28. Karin says:

    Thanks for this amazing recipe – I haven’t had gnocchi for years as can’t eat wheat, dairy or eggs. There was something really lovely about making the dough – I enjoyed the process so much – but then to cook and eat the gnocchi and find it was delicious and just the way I remembered it pre-allergies was amazing. Thanks again!

    • cybele says:

      Hi Karin:

      Thank you SOOOO much for the positive feedback. I put a lot of love into that recipe.

      Happy New Year!

      Best,

      Cybele

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